Replication of below article’s Data and Visualizations
“Has International Travel to the U.S. Really Collapsed?”
By Josh Holder, Niraj Chokshi and Samuel Granados
Karim K. Kardous

International Travel Into the US Prelude

About the data/article in a nutshell: This New York Times article, backed by numbers from government agencies for the US & Canada, attempts to show whether International Travel into the US has dipped as a result of President Trump’s administration and policies relating to broad tariffs, tight border control, etc.
The main takeaway is that while travel originating from Asia into the United States has timidly increased, that from Europe has stalled, meanwhile that of Canada has sharply decreased, especially when it comes to car crossings into the US; relative to air travel.
Despite a drastic drop for US bound travel from Canada, overall, travel into the United States has remained fairly undisturbed.

If you like to give the original article a read, you can find it here.

Overall Strategy for building first plot: One way to recreate the first visual; which shows in a report-card style the % change in flight bookings into the US comparing (Jan 1st through April 26, 2024) to (same period this year), and looking at 1) overall (International), 2) European, 3) Asian, and 4) Canadian inbound travel; is to generate 4 tiles with a subtle vertical tick/separator between each of those said 4 percentages. The time frame of visits for both years covers Summer; which allows for ‘apples to apples’ comparisons but also focuses on an upcoming period of the year - very near future, meaning that said bookings are more likely than not to be definitive for a vast majority of them.

#|echo: false
#|message: false
#|warning: false
#|include: false
# check if the required package 'emo' is installed;
# if not, it might mean your renv environment is not fully restored.
# running `renv::restore()` will install all necessary packages
# to ensure consistent package versions for building this quarto document,
# effectively 'containerizing' your project and protecting it from future package changes.
if (!requireNamespace("emo", quietly = TRUE)) {
  message("\nIt looks like your environment might not be restored.\nRun `renv::restore()` to install required packages.\n")
}

# load packages
library(xml2)
library(downlit)
library(gdtools)
library(tidyverse)
library(quarto)
library(chromote)
library(here)
library(tidycensus)
library(janitor)
library(purrr)
library(ggtext)
library(ggshadow)
library(ggiraph)
library(gfonts)
library(showtext)
library(ggborderline)
library(grid)
library(patchwork)
library(shiny)
library(rvest)
library(htmltools)
library(gt)
library(rsvg)
library(magick)
library(stringr)
library(ggimage)
library(emo)


font_add(family = "franklin-medium", regular = "renv/library/macos/R-4.5/aarch64-apple-darwin20/sysfonts/fonts/Libre_Franklin/static/LibreFranklin-Medium.ttf") 

theme_set_custom <- function() {
  
  # loading google Fonts
  sysfonts::font_add_google("Libre Franklin", "franklin")
  sysfonts::font_add(
    family = "franklin-medium", 
    regular = "renv/library/macos/R-4.5/aarch64-apple-darwin20/sysfonts/fonts/Libre_Franklin/static/LibreFranklin-Medium.ttf"
  )
  showtext::showtext_auto()

  # applying ggplot2 theme
  ggplot2::theme_set(
    ggplot2::theme_minimal(base_family = "franklin") +
      ggplot2::theme(
        panel.background = ggplot2::element_rect(fill = "#F9F9F9", color = NA),
        plot.background = ggplot2::element_rect(fill = "#F9F9F9", color = NA)
      )
  )
}

theme_set_custom()

Travel Score Cards

#|echo: false
#|message: false
#|warning: false
#|include: true

theme_set_custom()

p1_tribble <- tribble(
  ~perc_change, ~label, ~region, ~fill, ~width_cm, ~ length_cm, 
  '-1.5%', 'International arrivals\n at U.S. airports', 'International','#969696', 170 / 300 * 2.54, 80 / 300 * 2.54, # converting into actual cm, controlling for resolution set (300 or print quality)
  '-2%', 'Summer flight\n bookings from Europe', 'Europe', '#969696', 130 / 300 * 2.54, 77 / 300 * 2.54,
  '+4%', 'Summer flight\n bookings from Asia', 'Asia', '#2b9d6c', 130 / 300 * 2.54, 77/ 300 * 2.54,
  '-21%', 'Summer flight\n bookings from Canada', 'Canada', '#d65f00', 164 / 300 * 2.54, 77 / 300 * 2.54
)

# here i go for an interactive process whereby each plot is created separately in a list of plots; one main reason is that the boxes/rectangles are of different sizes. 
tile_plot_rounded <- function(perc_change, label_text, fill, width_cm, length_cm, scaler = 3) { # 3 was best here
  library(grid) # for some reason, roundrectGrob() wasn't running without first loading grid here too (even if called earlier when loading all packages)
  ggplot() +
    ggtitle(label_text) + # set the label as thes plot sub-title
    annotation_custom(
      grob = roundrectGrob(
        width = unit(width_cm * scaler, "cm"),    
        height = unit(length_cm * scaler, "cm"), 
        r = unit(0.1, "npc"),  # corner radius, the higher the values the more prononcoumced the roundedness
        gp = gpar(fill = fill, col = NA)
      ),
      xmin = 0, xmax = 6, ymin = 0, ymax = 3
    ) +
    annotate(
    "text", 
      x = 3, y = 1.5,
      hjust = 0.5, vjust = 0.5,
      size = 10, # text size for perc_change
      label = perc_change,
      color = 'white', 
      family = 'franklin',
      fontface = 'bold'
    ) +
    xlim(0, 6) + ylim(0, 3) +
    coord_fixed(ratio = 1) + 
    theme_void() +
    theme(
      plot.margin = margin(4, 2, 2, 2), # small margins add around each plot for more subtitle room
      plot.title = element_text(hjust = 0.5, size = 14, family = 'franklin-medium', margin = margin(b = 5)) # this is a midway font face between plain and bold
    )
}
# loop through labels, fills, and dimensions, and including 'label' for the title
tile_plots <- pmap(
  list(
    perc_change = p1_tribble$perc_change,
    label_text = p1_tribble$label, 
    fill = p1_tribble$fill,
    width_cm = p1_tribble$width_cm,
    length_cm = p1_tribble$length_cm
  ),
  tile_plot_rounded 
)

# assign one row so that all plots are side by side and not potentially stacked (vertically)
p1 <- wrap_plots(
  tile_plots, nrow = 1
) 
# adds after wrap a title
p_final <- p1 + 
  plot_annotation(
    title = 'Travel compared with last year',
    caption = 'Sources: U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Airlines Reporting Corporation',
    theme = theme(
      plot.title = element_text(size = 20, family = 'franklin', face = "bold", hjust = 0.5, margin = margin(t = -10, b = 10)),
      plot.caption = element_text(size = 9, family = 'franklin-medium', face = 'bold', colour = '#727272', hjust = 0.15)
      )
  ) 
p_final

International arrivals at major U.S. airports

Placeholder for plot 2- line plots for Q1 2024 vs Q1 2025 in Intl. arrivals at major US airports

#|echo: false
#|message: false
#|warning: false
#|include: true

## p3; table to embed in gt() 
# read in the correspoinding table node
url <- 'https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/04/30/world/us-travel-decline.html'
raw_table <- 
  rvest::read_html(url) |> 
  html_element(css = '.svelte-5z6yzk') |> 
  html_table() |> 
  select(country = 1, perc_change = 2) |> 
  filter(perc_change != '')

# processing the tibble
individual_country_changes <- 
  raw_table |> 
  mutate(
    perc_change_num = parse_number(perc_change),
    left_right_ended = if_else(perc_change_num <= -.02, 'left', 'right'),
    # below also going to be used to section off the table into 3 columns
    change_direction = case_when(
      between(perc_change_num, -2, 1) ~ 'stalled',
      perc_change_num < 0 ~ 'decreased',
      .default = 'increased') 
  ) |> 
  mutate(
    groupings = case_when(
      n() == 11 ~ 1,
      n() ==  6 ~ 2,
      .default = 3),
    .by = change_direction
    ) 

Confidence, but Warning Signs

For the below visualization, I opted to use gt() from gt package as it naturally comes to mind when trying to build ‘great tables’, yes pun intended. A few things to mention here to explain my thought process along with pointing out a couple of minor things that slightly fell short from original.
s First, one thing that stands out is that

#|echo: false
#|message: false
#|warning: false
#|include: false
#|results: 'asis' 

gt_table_custom_ <- function(hex, direction, title = NULL) {
  
  title_ <- title
  hex_to_pass_in_fn <- hex
  dir_to_pass_in_fn <- direction
  
  individual_country_changes |> 
    filter(groupings == {{direction}}) |> 
    select(1:3) |> 
    gt() |> 
    text_transform(
      locations = cells_body(columns = perc_change_num),
      fn = function(x) {
        x_num <- as.numeric(x)
        max_val <- max(abs(x_num), na.rm = TRUE)
        if(max_val == 0) max_val <- 1 
        widths_for_glue <- abs(x_num) / max_val * if (dir_to_pass_in_fn == 2) 8 else 100 # default scaling may look misleaading for 'no change' countries, so massively reduced here otherwise center table values get way inflated for what they are ([-2; 1])
        
        # loop thru values of perc_change column and isolate each element so that it can pass thru str_glue() without length(x) > 1 error from if/else statement
        purrr::map_chr(seq_along(x_num), function(x) {
          width <- widths_for_glue[x]
          val <- x_num[x]
          
          if(dir_to_pass_in_fn == 2) {
            direction_to_go <- if(val < 0) "right" else "left"
            translate_offset <- if(val <= -2) "20%" else "0" # translate back to the origin for values >= -.02 (this gets applied only for no-change countries/middle table)
            str_glue(
              '<div style="display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;">
                 <div style="position: relative; width: 100%; height: 8px;">
                   <div style="position: absolute; left: 50%; top: -4px; width: 2px; height: 16px; background: #ccc;"></div>
                   <div style="position: absolute; {direction_to_go}: 50%; top: 0; 
                               background: {hex_to_pass_in_fn}; height: 8px; width: {width}%; 
                               transform: translateX({translate_offset}); 
                               border-radius: 3px;"></div>
                 </div>
               </div>'
            )
          }  # for below, we treat direction 1 (very negative change) and 2 (very positive) virtually the same, only former goes from center to left while latter from center to right
          else {
            direction_to_go <- if(direction == 1) "right" else "left"
            str_glue(
              '<div style="display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;">
                 <div style="position: relative; width: 50%; height: 8px;">
                   <div style="position: absolute; left: 50%; top: -4px; width: 2px; height: 16px; background: #ccc; transform: translateX(-1px);"></div>
                   <div style="position: absolute; {direction_to_go}: 50%; top: -4px; background: {hex_to_pass_in_fn}; height: 8px; width: {width}%; border-radius: 3px;"></div>
                 </div>
               </div>'
            )
          }
        })
      }
    ) |>
    cols_align(
      align = "center",
      columns = perc_change
    ) |> 
    tab_style(
      style = cell_text(color = hex),
      locations = cells_body(columns = perc_change)
    ) |> 
    tab_style(
      style = css("white-space" = "nowrap"),
      locations = cells_body(columns = country)
      ) |> 
    cols_label(
      country = md("**Country**"),
      perc_change = "",
perc_change_num = htmltools::HTML("<span style='white-space: nowrap;'><strong>Change vs. 2024</strong></span>")    
) |> 
    opt_table_font(
      font = c("franklin-medium"),
      weight = 500
    ) |> 
    tab_options(
      heading.align = "left",
      table.width = pct(100), 
      table.border.top.style = "hidden",             
      column_labels.border.bottom.style = "solid",
      column_labels.border.bottom.width = px(1),
      column_labels.border.bottom.color = "white",
    ) |> 
    cols_width(
    country ~ pct(50),
    perc_change ~ pct(50),
    perc_change_num ~ pct(50)
    ) 
}

# generate and assign tables below 
tbl1 <- gt_table_custom_(hex = '#d65f00', direction = 1) |> 
  tab_header(
    title = md("**Where U.S.-bound summer flight bookings have <span style='color: #d65f00;'> decreased </span>...**")
    ) |> 
    tab_options(
    heading.padding = px(8.7)
  )

tbl2 <- gt_table_custom_(hex = '#666666', direction = 2) |> 
  tab_header(
    title = md("<span style='color: #666666;'>**... stayed about the same ...**</span>"),
    subtitle = md("<span style='color: #FFFFFF;'>adding artificial padding.**</span>")
  ) |> 
    tab_options(
    heading.padding = px(6)
  )

tbl3 <- gt_table_custom_(hex = '#2b9d6c', direction = 3) |> 
    tab_header(
    title = md("**... and <span style='color: #2b9d6c;'>increased</span>.**"),
    subtitle = md("<span style='color: #FFFFFF;'>adding artificial.** padding</span>")
  ) |> 
    tab_options(
    heading.padding = px(6)
  )

tables_row_layout <- htmltools::tags$div(
  style = "display: flex; justify-content: space-between; align-items: flex-start; gap: 20px; width: 100%; padding: 0 10px;",
  htmltools::tags$div(style = "flex: 1; min-width: 0;", tbl1), 
  htmltools::tags$div(style = "flex: 1; min-width: 0;", tbl2),
  htmltools::tags$div(style = "flex: 1; min-width: 0;", tbl3)
)

caption_text <- "<span style='color:#707070;'>Source: Airlines Reporting Corporation &bull; Data covers flight bookings made between Feb. 1 and April 13 for travel between Memorial Day and Labor Day, compared to the same period last year.</span>"
caption_html_content <- HTML(caption_text) 
left_padding_value <- "20px" # adding some padding so that caption moves slightl to the right to match original's caption poisiton 

caption_styled_div <- htmltools::tags$div(
  style = paste(
    "width: 50%;",  # overall visual span
    "max-width: 1000px;", # optional cap the max width of the caption
    "margin: 5px auto 0 auto;", 
    "text-align: left;",
    "font-family: 'franklin-medium', 'Libre Franklin', Arial, sans-serif;", # prioritize 'franklin-medium'
    "font-weight: 500;",                                                 
    "font-size: 0.85em;", 
    "line-height: 1.1;",
    paste0("padding-left: ", left_padding_value, ";") 
  ),
  caption_html_content
)

# This parent div will stack them vertically and can be used to constrain overall width.
overall_final_layout <- htmltools::tags$div(
  style = "width: 100%; max-width: 1900px; margin: 0 auto; padding-bottom: 1px;", # Constrain total width, center on page, add bottom padding
  tables_row_layout,
  caption_styled_div
)

# To display in a Quarto/R Markdown document, ensure this is the last object evaluated in the chunk:
overall_final_layout

Where U.S.-bound summer flight bookings have decreased …
Country		Change vs. 2024
Canada	-21%
Netherlands	-17%
Germany	-12%
Ecuador	-11%
Mexico	-9%
Dom. Rep.	-9%
Switzerland	-8%
China	-7%
South Korea	-5%
India	-4%
Poland	-4%

… stayed about the same …
adding artificial padding.**
Country		Change vs. 2024
U.K.	-2%
France	-2%
Colombia	-2%
Italy	0%
Philippines	+1%
Greece	+1%

… and increased.
adding artificial.** padding
Country		Change vs. 2024
Costa Rica	+3%
Brazil	+4%
Australia	+6%
Spain	+8%
Portugal	+8%
Japan	+11%
Ireland	+11%
Argentina	+39%

Source: Airlines Reporting Corporation • Data covers flight bookings made between Feb. 1 and April 13 for travel between Memorial Day and Labor Day, compared to the same period last year.

A Canadian boycott

Big drops along the border